"The is the last part. I'm sorry we have to put you through all this again, we just want to make sure all of the data lines up. Wouldn't want a smudge in the paperwork would we?" The woman was not sorry, in fact, she seemed to be enjoying herself. She had always treated him like an incompetent child. She was his social security worker, Sarah, assigned to him by the government when the police got involved. They should have been involved much, much sooner. But they weren't and likely never would have been involved, had that day not played out differently. The past is still the past. Nothing is ever going to change. He looked at the ground, walking with his head bowed. Nothing is ever going to get better. With a clack of her heels, Sarah lead him down a hallway, constantly twisting and turning. Allen looked up and watched the pictures, counted the turns. She was leading him in circles.

Finally she opened a door to the room neighboring the one they had originally started in. She smiled and signaled that he should enter. He stopped in the doorway and turned to look at her, a fire alight in his silver eyes.

"Hoping that I'll go mad and you can throw me to the nut house to be their pin cushion? That'd sure be less work for you huh?" He noticed her tense up before settling into a smirk.

"Smart kid. Probably too smart, I'll see you around Allen Walker." The door closed behind him and he turned to see what appeared to be an interrogation room that someone had vainly attempted to fix up. The result was a metal table and chair, and a rug hugging the concrete floor. Some cushioned chairs were scattered about the room. A police officer stood in the corner, dumping sugar into coffee poured from the machine in front of him. A therapist, detective, and member from the orphanage he was about to be transferred to all had seats near the table. Their attire gave away who was who, but all were older. All wore the same expression. And all of them are probably thinking the same thing. Allen knew he was a freak, he didn't need to be reminded of that by them.

"Have a seat" The therapist said, gesturing to the metal chair. Allen tensed and sat down slouching into the seat, with his hands in his pockets and eyes on the colorless floor. The therapist jotted something down on his notepad.

"I'm and this is-"

"Can we just get this over with, please?" Lee was surprised when the teen met his eyes. He spoke politely but his expression was unreadable. He added another scribble before continuing and pulling out some papers from his briefcase. The representative and detective repeated his action.

"Very well. The detective has some questions he wants to ask you. And would like some standard background information to help with the transition. Then of course there's Sarah who was concerned about your mental state, so here I am. I hope you don't mind." The look he gave Lee made it quite apparent that he did mind. He also knew everything Lee had just said already. Lee smiled slightly; he's annoyed but… He's good at hiding it. Questions began whirring through Lee's mind as the detective began his own invasive assault.

"Name?"

"Allen Walker."

"Gender?" Allen raised an eyebrow quizzically. The man sighed and checked a box before continuing.

"Age?"

"About fifteen" now it was the detective's turn to raise an eyebrow.

"When is your birthday?"

"I don't know" Allen had tensed slightly and cast his gaze down to the table. Lee began scribbling out the thoughts flitting about his overly active head.

"Surely you can just pull up his birth certificate?" , the representative from the orphanage spoke up.

"I'm afraid it's not that simple… You see we've been searching for his files for awhile, but he was never properly documented. He was born with a major deformity, so the doctors wanted to run some tests. For reasons unclear to us, his father took the child before the tests could be run, or even the birth certificate finalized. His mother was murdered two years later, shot five times. The autopsy revealed constant abuse, and stretch marks. When we swept the crime scene again we managed to find the incomplete birth certificate. We were unable to gain anything else, the father left in a hurry and the only unprinted word on the certificate was "demon". The date had been scratched out beyond recognition and it was the only copy. Three years after that however, the man was found dead, shot in a gang fight. We questioned witnesses, but no one mentioned the child and unfortunately the department had a lot on its plate at the time…" the detective who had been rubbing his temples glanced up at Allen.

"Can you tell us what happened that night?" Lee and seemed confused as to which night the detective was referring, but Allen understood. He straightened.

"I already told you everything I know."

"Yes, but the Earl is still at large, surely you have something-"

"I. Don't. Know." Allen's eyes flared with rage and sorrow fighting to be the dominant emotion.

"What happened that night?!"

"Detective please…" Lee interrupted before the situation could escalate further.

"Allen, could you share with us the events the detective is talking about? And perhaps some context as to what happened before, so and I have a better understanding." Allen looked away, eyes glazing slightly as he struggled to avoid being overtaken by unwanted memories.

"He was always mad… I was broken and it was my fault, and hers… Said she was pregnant. He didn't want another mistake and he lost it. We went away. He said it was another city but it all looked the same, dark, cold, full of monsters. He joined up with a local gang. I was their errand kid a lot… It was hard. When he died, I thought I could finally be free…" He paused, struggling to keep his composure. He kept his sentences short and used as little detail as possible.

"Ended up selling me to a place called The Circus. A couple years later I ran into Mana and he took me in, although legally you guys see it as kidnapping" He clenched his right hand tightly into a fist. The detective sat forward, placing his elbow on the tabletop while poising his other to write.

"Tell me more about Mana Walker." Lee fidgeted slightly, looking down at his notes.

"Mana was a street performer, a clown. Trained me as one too. He was at his best when he was performing, making people happy…" somehow, Allen managed to clench his fist tighter. Circulation was slowing down but he paid it no heed as he continued.

"But when he wasn't, when he took off that mask, he was crazy. He tried, was a good father, but he would forget. He said strange stuff all the time, he would get lost and forget what he was doing…" Allen trailed off again, but the detective was determined to continue.

"Do you know anything about Nea Walker, Mana's alleged brother? We believe the two were involved with the Earl."

"I don't know." His voice remained level, but Lee could have sworn he saw Allen's left hand twitch through his jacket pocket. The detective sighed. Lee glanced at him; he hadn't seen the twitch.

"Very well… What about that night?" he was growing impatient. Lee tightened his grip on the pen he held.

"Mana was acting stranger than usual. He…"

"Spit it out!"

"He hit me… and… he…"

"What, did you kill him?! Stop wasting my time and tell me about the Earl!" The detective had jumped out of his chair and was leaning across the table.

"I don't remember, okay?! That's what I told you! Why won't you believe-" he was punched square in the jaw. Blood dripped from his mouth as his collar was tightly grabbed. The detective tightened his grip on the youth.

"Bullshit, you were there that night. The Noah took care of him right before your eyes. Then they brought you somewhere. Where? Was it their base? Are you working for them?!" Allen was punched again, before he could answer.

"Everything happened so fast" Another punch.

"Hey!" Lee jumped up. He was supposed to simply observe, only concern himself with his subject's mental health. But this was just wrong.

"They knocked me out. When I woke up, I was in a dark room. They played a video, of how they killed Mana. But then, somehow, Mana was there. Said it was my fault. He cut my face, he cursed me, beat me up. The whole time the Earl was standing there, just watching. He left and had Mana go with him before he could kill me. Everything hurt and I was confused. I didn't remember anything until a few months later. One of Mana's drunkard acquaintances had raided the base looking for Mana. When he found me instead, he took me and made me work for him."

"Where is this man know? Where is Cross?"

" Dead. All I know is he was shot, had lots of enemies."

"And the Earl, when he was there did you see his face?"

"No" the detective released his grip; Allen clattered back onto the chair. With a sigh the man gathered his things at left.

"That's all for now." Lee glanced uncertainly at the boy. He had met hundreds of thousands of subjects, each with their own tragic tale. But this was by far the worst, including all the others who's lives were all but wrecked by the Earl. The Earl… A criminal whose offenses range from mass murder to human trafficking. He's the leader of the most wanted terrorist organization, NOAH. stood, snapping Lee from his thoughts.

"That wasn't as helpful as I'd hoped, don't expect anyone to even consider adopting you." She waved to the officer in the corner and exited the room. The officer walked over to Allen and kicked his chair. Snow white locks fell, obscuring his eyes from view like a curtain. He stood and was roughly shoved in the direction of the door. Lee was alone. He gathered his notes and exited the room as well. Before leaving, he cast a glance at the chair where the youth had been sitting. It's not too late… It's never too late.